The government decision not to support an Essex oil refinery is “completely wrong”, Ed Miliband has said.

About 180 oil jobs are being cut at Coryton Oil Refinery after its parent company, Swiss-based Petroplus, collapsed.

The government said it was not in the national interest to provide financial support.

The Labour leader said: “I think they are showing an absolute abdication of their responsibility to the workers at Coryton.”

The Department for Energy and Climate Change has said overcapacity in the refining industry and declining demand for petrol meant it would not be sustainable for the government to provide assistance.

Administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers said the oil and gas jobs, from a total of 850, would go this week.

Source: BBC News